Chapter Summaries

Fang Zelin left Jade Void Mountain and visited Yunzi at Rising Tide Valley to catch up with his old friend. After discussing the sect’s growth and the past battle against the Devil Cultivators, he asked her to explain how the invasion had happened and what had become of the captured Devil Cultivator and the immortal cultivation world’s fortune.

• Qin Xuzi told Fang Zelin that Jade Void Mountain and the other sects had grown, and Fang Zelin offered to help if trouble arose.
• Fang Zelin flew to Rising Tide Valley in Northern Liang, where Yunzi recognized him and welcomed him into the sect.
• Fang Zelin and Yunzi discussed Rising Tide Valley’s many female disciples and Yunzi teased him about finding a dao companion; Fang Zelin said he had not found one.
• Yunzi reassured Fang Zelin that the Dao scrolls he had shared had helped the sects prosper and contribute to the victory over the Devil Cultivators.
• Fang Zelin shared his wine with Yunzi and asked her what had led the Devil Cultivators to invade and whether Northern Liang had learned anything from their captured prisoner or found the immortal cultivation world’s fortune.

Fang Zelin learned that the Devil Cultivators had lured Northern Liang's cultivators into a costly battle after secretly gathering strength for centuries, and he revealed his new Divine Ability, Dharma Form Heaven and Earth, to Yunzi. They agreed that Yunzi would seek a way to locate the Devil Cultivators, while Fuqing arrived outside the hall and heard that an unfamiliar handsome senior was visiting her Master.

• Yunzi told Fang Zelin that the captured Devil Cultivator had destroyed his own Divine Sense, and his hidden allies later ambushed the cultivators after centuries of preparation.
• Fang Zelin learned that the Devil Cultivators had escaped and that Yunzi had failed to divine their origin or cultivation grounds.
• Fang Zelin told Yunzi about his Divine Ability, Dharma Form Heaven and Earth, and said he might attack the Devil Cultivators if their location could be found.
• Yunzi offered to search for the Devil Cultivators, and Fang Zelin warned her not to risk her life by probing the workings of heaven.
• Fang Zelin and Yunzi drank and ate together while the disciples outside speculated that the visiting senior might become their Master's dao companion.
• Fuqing rebuked the disciples for neglecting their cultivation, then stopped when one of them asked who the handsome senior visiting their Master was.

Fuqing recognized Fang Zelin as the Wine Sword Immortal and reunited with him at Rising Tide Valley, where they discussed the Devil Cultivators’ past attack and the threat of their return. Fang Zelin resolved to help defend and restore the immortal Dao, and wondered how to contact powerful cultivators beyond Northern Liang.

• Fuqing recognized Fang Zelin as the Wine Sword Immortal and went into the hall to greet him.
• Fang Zelin offered Fuqing nearly thousand-year-old wine, and Fuqing thanked him for his past guidance in finding her Dao.
• Yunzi offered to visit Fang Zelin if she discovered where the Devil Cultivators were gathering.
• Yunzi and Fuqing told Fang Zelin that the Devil Cultivators had stolen the immortal cultivation world’s fortune and that many forebears had fallen resisting them.
• Fang Zelin declared that Dao cultivators must stand against the returning Devil Race and help the immortal Dao flourish.
• Fang Zelin wondered how the cultivators in other regions were faring and considered joining forces with them.

Fang Zelin visited Rising Tide Valley, learned that disciples from many Daoist sects had studied his Dao inscriptions, and stayed to tour the valley with Fuqing. At the seaside, he met Fu Yun after she emerged from seclusion, and she explained why her cultivation lagged behind Fuqing's.

• Yunzi told Fang Zelin that disciples from other Daoist sects had traveled to study his Dao inscriptions, and he was glad cultivation was flourishing beyond Northern Liang and Great Qian.
• Yunzi and Fuqing persuaded Fang Zelin to stay at Rising Tide Valley, and Fuqing guided him past the gathered disciples toward the shore.
• Fang Zelin praised the disciples' cultivation, while Fuqing warned that it was still insufficient to confront the powerful Devil Race.
• Fang Zelin watched the waves and sunset with Fuqing, and he said he had comprehended a Divine Ability while traveling over the sea.
• Fu Yun emerged from seclusion, met Fang Zelin, and explained that her aptitude was poorer than Fuqing's, whose cultivation had advanced much faster.

At Listening to the Tide Cliff, Fang Zelin answered Fu Yun’s question about forgetting emotion and preached the Dao of inherent spontaneity to Fuqing. His sermon drew the valley’s animals, cranes, and disciples together, and Yunzi summoned the remaining disciples to listen as the gathering filled the cliffside.

• Fang Zelin urged Fuqing and Fu Yun to cultivate diligently and defend their Daoist Sect against the Devil Race.
• Fu Yun asked how forgetting emotion could coexist with having a dao companion and caring for all living beings, and Fang Zelin explained that it meant remaining unmoved rather than being without emotion.
• Fuqing asked about the Dao of Dao Emulates Own Inherent Spontaneity, and Fang Zelin began preaching it at Listening to the Tide Cliff.
• Fish, spirit cranes, and nearby Rising Tide Valley disciples gathered around Fang Zelin and became absorbed in his sermon.
• Yunzi noticed that most disciples had left the valley, saw Fang Zelin preaching, and ordered the remaining disciples to go listen.
• The last disciples arrived at the crowded cliffside and sat on clouds around the edge as Fang Zelin’s Dao rhythm spread among the gathering.

Fang Zelin’s overnight exposition of the Dao left Rising Tide Valley’s disciples and nearby beasts immersed in comprehension, while a gigantic intelligent fish became determined to hear the scripture Free and Easy Wandering. Over a meal with Yunzi, Fang discussed overseas seekers of immortality and his travels, then declined her request to expound the Dao again, though she thought he was being modest.

• Fang Zelin ended his exposition at sunrise and quietly left the disciples and beasts to continue comprehending the Dao.
• Yunzi praised Fang Zelin’s exposition, and he mentioned that Free and Easy Wandering might awaken the intelligence of sea folk.
• A gigantic intelligent fish overheard them and resolved to find a way to ask Fang Zelin to recite Free and Easy Wandering.
• Fang Zelin ate Yunzi’s vegetarian cooking and asked about overseas people seeking immortal sects; Yunzi said they often wanted immortal arts for selfish ambitions.
• Fang Zelin shared stories from his travels with Yunzi, while she listened and stole glances at him.
• Yunzi hoped Fang Zelin would expound the Dao again, but he said he had already shared what he had comprehended over several hundred years.

Fang Zelin and Yunzi detected that a Dragon Race member had attained a True Dragon body and identified her as Xiao Qin. Xiao Qin celebrated her tribulation success, and the Dragon Palace prepared a True Dragon banquet that Fang Zelin agreed to attend.

• Fang Zelin and Yunzi divined that a Dragon Race member had attained a True Dragon body, and Fang Zelin recognized her as Xiao Qin.
• Xiao Qin told Meng Yunqing that she had passed her tribulation easily and agreed to return to the Dragon Palace for a True Dragon banquet.
• The old dragon welcomed Xiao Qin and ordered the Dragon Palace to hold a banquet, inviting the Aquatic Race and the members of the Dragon Race.
• Meng Yunqing set off for Yingping Peak with an invitation for Fang Zelin, while the Dragon Palace began preparations and sent invitations far and wide.
• Yunzi asked whether Fang Zelin would attend the banquet, and Fang Zelin agreed to go.

Fang Zelin accepted the Meng Dragon Race’s invitation to the True Dragon Banquet and prepared a gift for Meng Xiao Qin. As the Dragon Palace welcomed aquatic clans from across the waterways, Zhou Yongling learned that an immortal would attend and hoped his wife Li Youyun might receive his guidance.

• Meng Yunqing invited Fang Zelin to the True Dragon Banquet, and Fang Zelin accepted and sent Meng Xiao Qin a jar of wine he had promised her.
• Fang Zelin collected three drops of ginseng liquid from the medicine boy to use as a banquet gift, then began refining pills.
• Meng Yunqing returned to the Dragon Palace with Fang Zelin’s acceptance, prompting the old dragon to set the banquet for three days later as aquatic clans gathered.
• Zhou Yongling prepared to attend the banquet with his wife, Li Youyun, who explained that the gathering would include an immortal who had once guided the Dragon King.
• After learning that the immortal had appeared at the previous banquet more than eight hundred years earlier, Zhou Yongling hoped Li Youyun could receive guidance and become a True Dragon.

Zhou Yongling and Li Youyun arrived at the Dragon Palace for a True Dragon banquet, where aquatic creatures had gathered in hopes of seeing the immortal. As they waited among the guests, the Dragon Palace crown prince Meng Yunqing appeared to receive the honored guests.

• Li Youyun reassured Zhou Yongling that the Dragon Race was unlikely to threaten Great Qian, and he set aside his worries about the dynasty to focus on the banquet.
• Li Youyun brought Zhou Yongling to the Dragon Palace, where her great-grandfather greeted them and urged them to find seats before the banquet filled up.
• Zhou Yongling and Li Youyun secured seats near the front, then watched dragon kings arrive and learned the immortal was expected in about an hour.
• Zhou Yongling drank wine and chatted with the demons around him while everyone waited for the banquet to begin.
• Meng Yunqing emerged from the Dragon Palace and took over receiving the honored guests, drawing attention as the crown prince and a True Dragon.

Fang Zelin attended the True Dragon Banquet, where the Dragon Kings asked him to guide their descendants. He agreed to lecture on Free and Easy Wandering and enchanted incense so that every attendee could hear according to their merit and fortune.

• Meng Yunqing welcomed Fang Zelin to the Dragon Palace, where the assembled Aquatic Race members watched him arrive.
• Fang Zelin praised Meng Xiao Qin for gaining a True Dragon body, then gave her a bottle of ginseng liquid as a banquet gift.
• Several Dragon Kings knelt and asked Fang Zelin to guide their children, citing their years of good deeds and flood control.
• Fang Zelin verified their merits and agreed to give a discourse on Free and Easy Wandering.
• Fang Zelin enchanted incense sticks and told Meng Yunqing to distribute them so attendees could hear his lecture according to their past deeds and fortune.

Fang Zelin tested the spirits’ merit and affinity with incense before reciting Free and Easy Wandering to those whose incense stayed lit. Zhou Yongling gave his lit incense to Li Youyun, whose incense remained burning after everyone else’s went out, earning her clan’s support for her cultivation.

• A maid told the spirits that only those whose incense lit could listen to Fang Zelin expound the Dao, and most spirits failed the test.
• Zhou Yongling offered his chance to listen to Li Youyun, while the Great Marsh Dragon King refused to take his young son’s lit incense and let him keep the opportunity.
• Fang Zelin began reciting Free and Easy Wandering, shocking the spirits who could hear him with its account of the Kun transforming into the Peng.
• As incense burned out, the spirits lost their chance to listen, but Zhou Yongling lit his own incense and passed it to Li Youyun.
• Li Youyun continued listening after the other spirits’ incense went out, and her Carp Race clan elder promised to open the treasury and help her cultivate.

Li Youyun’s long attention to Fang Zelin’s discourse earned her and her husband Zhou Yongling an invitation into the Dragon Palace, where Fang Zelin questioned Zhou about Great Qian. Fang revealed that he had been friends with Great Qian’s Grand Progenitor but would not intervene to save the declining dynasty.

• Fang Zelin ended his discourse when the incense burned out, and Meng Yunqing invited Li Youyun into the Dragon Palace because she had listened until the end.
• Li Youyun asked to bring Zhou Yongling, and the crown prince agreed to admit them both.
• Fang Zelin approached the couple and asked Zhou Yongling about his marriage to a yao and his view of Great Qian.
• Zhou Yongling said Great Qian was corrupt and nearing collapse, and Fang agreed that its fall was only a matter of time.
• Fang Zelin revealed that he had been friends with Great Qian’s Grand Progenitor, but refused to save the dynasty because the common people would suffer regardless.

At the Dragon Palace, Fang Zelin learned that overseas Aquatic Race members were plotting to seize Great Qian’s Human Race Karmic Fortune by flooding its cities, while spirits gathered as the dynasty weakened. After encouraging the Great Marsh Dragon King, Fang Zelin returned to Yingping Peak and refined Essence Condensation Pills, which the deer demon and tiger demon eagerly volunteered to test.

• The Great Marsh Dragon King told Fang Zelin and the old Dragon King that overseas Aquatic Race members had tried to recruit them into a plan to flood Great Qian’s cities and divide its Karmic Fortune.
• The Great Marsh Dragon King warned that spirits were increasing and bewitching officials as Great Qian declined, and Fang Zelin said Jade Void Mountain and other sects had enough disciples to deal with them.
• After the True Dragon banquet, Fang Zelin encouraged the Great Marsh Dragon King to believe he could overcome the True Dragon tribulation, then left the Dragon Palace.
• At Yingping Peak, Fang Zelin learned that the medicinal herbs had matured and began refining Essence Condensation Pills to strengthen himself before Great Qian’s fall and the Devil Race’s threat.
• When Fang Zelin asked who would test the newly formed pills, the deer demon and tiger demon eagerly volunteered.

Fang Zelin learned that the pills greatly increased the spirits’ cultivation and explained Tianxi’s restlessness, setting her to farm and cook while he continued refining pills. Meanwhile, Yunzi prepared to use the Heavenly Secrets Grand Formation to divine the Devil Race’s whereabouts.

• Two spirits each swallowed a pill and gained more than thirty years of cultivation, then went off to spar.
• Tianxi emerged from seclusion feeling restless, and Fang Zelin said her rapid cultivation and the hostile spirits gathering in Great Qian had affected her.
• Fang Zelin told Tianxi to tend the spiritual rice, prepare meals, and later learn to brew wine instead of sparring.
• Fang Zelin resumed refining pills while cultivating and planned to await Yunzi’s divination before acting against the Devil Race.
• Yunzi’s disciples completed the Heavenly Secrets Grand Formation at Rising Tide Valley, and she began the divination as stars appeared around the formation.

Yunzi discovered that the Devil Race was refining the cultivation world's karmic fortune, but a great cultivator struck Rising Tide Valley through her spying formation. Fang Zelin shattered the attack and confronted the Devil Race cultivator, then prepared to unleash a powerful sword strike.

• Yunzi used the Heavenly Secrets Grand Formation to locate the Devil Race's dwelling and saw its cultivators bound to and refining the cultivation world's karmic fortune.
• A Devil Race great cultivator sensed Yunzi's spying, shattered the formation with a heaven-spanning palm, and left Rising Tide Valley's disciples dying under its force.
• Yunzi refused to abandon her disciples and fought the palm with their starlight, while her disciples accepted their fate and comforted her.
• The sect master of Dinggui Mountain and cultivators from across the region rushed to rescue Rising Tide Valley, but they could not arrive before the palm descended.
• Fang Zelin appeared and shattered the palm with the Bearing the Heavens Sword, then confronted the Devil Race great cultivator's illusory projection.
• Fang Zelin saw the stolen karmic fortune and raised the Bearing the Heavens Sword to strike the Devil Race cultivator.

Fang Zelin broke the formation holding the immortal sects’ fortune, forcing the Devil Race grand cultivator to retreat despite badly wounding him. The fortune returned to the immortal sects, while falling stars revealed the heavy losses at Rising Tide Valley, where Yunzi organized aid for the survivors.

• Fang Zelin redirected the Bearing the Heavens Sword from the Devil Race grand cultivator toward the formation imprisoning the immortal sects’ fortune.
• The Devil Race grand cultivator sent a skull Law Treasure to attack Fang Zelin, but Fang Zelin’s sword shattered the formation and released the fortune.
• The skull corrupted Fang Zelin’s Dharma Form and pierced it with scarlet fire, gravely injuring Fang Zelin as the Devil Race grand cultivator chose to withdraw.
• Fang Zelin saw the immortal sects’ fortune return and stars fall across the sky, then took pills and flew off to check on the other cultivators.
• Yunzi ordered the Rising Tide Valley disciples to treat the wounded and open the treasury, while they found corpses among the survivors.

After the Devil Race attack devastated Rising Tide Valley, Fang Zelin arrived with healing pills and learned that Yunzi’s vital Qi and foundation were gravely damaged. He found a Heaven-Mending Pill formula that might save her and resolved to gather its rare ingredients and refine it.

• Dinggui Mountain’s cultivators arrived at Rising Tide Valley and mourned the disciples killed by the Devil Race cultivator’s palm strike.
• Yunzi revealed that her divination had drawn the Devil Race’s attention, and Fang Zelin arrived with pills to treat the injured.
• Fang Zelin discovered that Yunzi’s foundation was failing and urged her to take his pills, while she noticed that he had also been injured.
• Fang Zelin examined the survivors, reassured Fuqing that he would try to save Yunzi, and searched his alchemy manual for a remedy.
• Fang Zelin found the Heaven-Mending Pill formula and resolved to refine it despite its rare ingredients and the Heavenly Tribulation it would bring.

Fang Zelin discovered that filth from his battle with the Devil Race was spreading across his Dharma manifestation and devouring his Law Power, but he set out to gather ingredients for a Heaven-Mending Pill to treat Yunzi. His followers collected the requested supplies from the Dragon Palace and immortal sects, while Zhou Yongling worried about rising demon attacks and Fang Zelin’s injury.

• Fang Zelin found that the filth on his Dharma manifestation swallowed his Law Power and continued to spread, leaving him unable to use his Divine Ability.
• Fang Zelin reassured Yunzi that he could treat her injuries, then returned to Yingping Peak to gather ingredients for a Heaven-Mending Pill.
• Fang Zelin sent Tianxi, the white deer, and the tiger demon to request medicinal ingredients and Woven Fire from the Dragon Palace and immortal sects, while the medicine boy agreed to provide its ginseng essence.
• Tianxi obtained Dragon Saliva Grass from Meng Xiao Qin at the Dragon Palace, and the white deer and tiger demon collected their requested items without trouble.
• Zhou Yongling and Li Youyun discussed the battle, the Devil Race, and the strange deaths among commoners, while Zhou worried that Fang Zelin had been injured.

Fang Zelin prepared to refine a Heaven-Mending Pill for Yunzi despite the danger of its heavenly taboo and the Lightning Tribulation it would summon. The pill neared completion as dark clouds and thunder gathered over Yingping Peak, leaving Fang Zelin facing the heavenly might above him.

• Li Youyun reassured Zhou Yongling that Great Qian would not necessarily fall to the yaoguai, and Zhou Yongling accepted her reasoning.
• Fang Zelin found that the corruption of his Dharma Manifestation had worsened, then prepared the medicinal ingredients and Woven Fire for the Heaven-Mending Pill.
• Yunzi and the gathered Daoists urged Fang Zelin not to risk refining the pill, but he insisted on trying to save her and promised to destroy it if necessary.
• Fang Zelin summoned the medicine boy and began refining the pill, carefully combining the herbs and ginseng essence over several days.
• After seven days of watching the Pill Furnace, Fang Zelin saw a golden light and wondrous fragrance emerge as dark clouds and lightning gathered overhead.

Fang Zelin tried to appease Heaven while completing the Heaven-Mending Pill, but the Lightning Tribulation struck him and then targeted the Devil Qi and filth on his Dharma Form. The pill was completed before the corruption was fully purged, so Fang Zelin entered the Pill Furnace to use its Woven Fire to suppress it.

• Fang Zelin admitted his fault to Heaven and asked to finish the Heaven-Mending Pill to save the sect master of Rising Tide Valley.
• The thunderclouds briefly dispersed before lightning struck Fang Zelin, and he struggled to withstand the barrage with his Law Power and Universe in the Sleeve Technique.
• Fang Zelin summoned his corrupted Dharma Form, drawing the Lightning Tribulation toward it; the heavenly lightning suppressed much of its Devil Qi and filth.
• As the lightning weakened and pill fragrance emerged, Fang Zelin watched the tribulation clouds disperse, then retrieved the three completed pills from the Pill Furnace.
• Fang Zelin gave a pill to Yunzi and sent his Dharma body into the Pill Furnace, where the Woven Fire began suppressing the Devil Qi and filth.